Description
Book SynopsisReconstructions of Jesus occurred in Asia long before the Western search for the historical Jesus began in earnest. Asians remade Jesus at times appreciatively and at other times critically. R. S. Sugirtharajah situates the historical Jesus beyond the narrow confines of the West and offers an eye-opening chapter in the story of global Christianity.
Trade ReviewA stimulating and provocative book that shows how Asians—like people around the world—have been trying for centuries to make the man from Galilee one of their own. -- Ian Johnson * New York Review of Books *
Splendid…A fascinating, half-forgotten intellectual journey which is brought fully to life by Sugirtharajah’s painstaking ‘excavations of Asian resources.’ -- Jonathan Wright * Catholic Herald *
[An] excellent book…Sugirtharajah brings together some fascinating parts of the global and perpetually expanding biography of Jesus…
Jesus in Asia deserves to be read widely. -- Chad M. Bauman * Christian Century *
Sugirtharajah’s detailed examination of…Asian treatments of Jesus reveals a startling variety among them…[He] has admirably filled a gap that most readers, including scholars specializing in the study of Jesus, are not even aware of. -- Luke Timothy Johnson * Commonweal *
Sugirtharajah…opens up Jesus to an Asian outlook…His book will constitute a revelation for most Christian readers…His book is a pleasure to read. -- Robert A. Segal * Times Higher Education *
[Sugirtharajah] has distilled his wide-ranging research and thinking into an impressive volume. -- Philip Jenkins * Christian Century *
Jesus in Asia is a marvelous achievement… Sugirtharajah presents an equally elegant and unexpected portrait of a number of Jesuses according to Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Jain, and Christian traditions… Succeeds in correcting common misconceptions by highlighting the important and overlooked contributions of Asian writers on the historical Jesus. -- Wongi Park * Horizons in Biblical Theology *
Makes for interesting and even provocative reading. Sugirtharajah brings to light a number of marginalized biographies of Jesus—works largely forgotten in both the East and the West. -- W. J. Pankey * Choice *
Sugirtharajah maintains that Western scholars’ ‘quest for the historical Jesus,’ has wrongly dismissed Eastern reconstructions as parochial and lacking scientific objectivity. Sugirtharajah counters with systematic and critical evaluations of Eastern contributions to the life of Jesus that span from the seventh century CE to the present day…A necessary corrective. -- James Wetherbee * Library Journal *
Sugirtharajah’s trenchant book will be useful to anyone looking for an introduction to some of the many Asian representations of Christ. * Publishers Weekly *
Written by a distinguished scholar of Christianity and postcolonial studies,
Jesus in Asia broadens our historical memory and enlivens our religious imagination. This book sharply contests the historical quest of Jesus in the West, and is remarkable in its broad historical and cultural reach—an invaluable recovery of Asian representations of Jesus. -- Kwok Pui-lan, author of
Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist TheologyJesus in Asia is an extraordinary gift. With great erudition, Sugirtharajah illuminates a broad history of previously neglected writings on Jesus, across many centuries and from diverse parts of Asia, by Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, and Jain scholars. By placing Jesus within Asian cultures and religions, this book offers a necessary challenge to the isolationism of Western Jesus studies. -- Halvor Moxnes, author of
Jesus and the Rise of Nationalism: A New Quest for the Nineteenth-Century Historical Jesus
